I Can't Be My Sister's Keeper Anymore
by Marie S Zachary
Summary: When Anna discovers a huge bruise on her theigh she knows what it's from. She has developed the same disease that Kate has. How will the family cope with having two sick children instead of just one. Will both of them survive? Read and find out.
1. Anna's Discovery

Disclaimer: I don't own My Sister's Keeper or any orginal characters. Now the idea... I own

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Anna laughed. She had a long but satisfying day and she was very excited. She was looking forward to tomorrow, when she got to go to the theater with her class. They would be seeing **A TALE OF TWO CITIES. **Anna loved the book and she couldn't wait to see the show. Tomorrow she would be seeing it.

"Hi honey," Sara said as Anna came in, "How was your day?"

"It was great mom," Anna said laughing again, "I'm going to see a show tomorrow for a class trip"

"Great. I hope you have fun"

"I'm sure I will," Anna said, "But I'm a little tired right now. I'm going to go take a nap"  
Anna went upstairs and changed into something more comfortable. She gasped when she looked down at her thigh and saw a large black and blue bruise. She knew where it came from. She had bumped into the door on her way to school this morning but it had just been a minor bump. This could only mean one thing.

"OMG, OMG, OMG!"  
Katie heard her sister and knocked on the door.

"Anna-baby," she asked using her nickname for Anna

"OMG!"  
Katie entered the room.

"Anna honey what's wrong?"

"Mom is going to hate me," she said

"She won't," Katie replied, "What happened? Did you break her vase or something?"

"I wish," Anna said tears filling in her eyes, "It's a lot worse then that"

"Anna-"

"I can't donate my parts to you anymore," Anna whispered putting the emphasis on can't.  
Kate didn't understand why Anna would think her mother would hate her because of that.

"It's not that I don't want to," Anna said, "I literally can't"  
She showed Kate the bruise.

"Lovely," Kate said sarcastically

"You don't get it," Anna said, "I bumped my thigh earlier this morning on the door. It was a nothing bump. Now I have this horrible bruise"

"Anna," Kate said gently trying to stay calm and at the same time terrified, "It could be anything"  
Kate was no fool though. She knew exactly what was going on with Anna.

"Honey you have to show mom"

"I can't," Anna exclaimed, "She'll hate me"

"She's not going to hate you. It's not your fault"  
Anna sighed.

"I think I'm going to talk to dad first. He'll understand a little bit better"  
Brian was getting ready for work when Anna knocked softly at his bedroom door.

"Dad," he called, "can I came in?"

"Sure Anna-banana"

"If you had to tell someone something and you knew they weren't going to like what you had to tell them would you tell them anyway or would you not tell them"  
Brian put a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"I would tell them," he said, "They need to know even though they might not be happy about it"  
Anna took in a breath. The air around her seemed thick and unforgiving. She closed her eyes. She took another breath.

"Dad," she said, "I think I have what Kate has" and she showed him the bruise on her thigh.


	2. And His World Fell Down Again

Brian stared at the bruise on Anna's thigh.

"Honey where did you get that," he asked

"I bumped into the door. It was an accident and it was such a slight bump."  
Brian shook his head to himself. He knew what it was.

"Anna," he said, "I'm sure it's probably nothing"  
He didn't sound too convincing, "But we'll make an appointment with Dr. Steneous just to make sure. But I'm sure it's nothing"

Just then Sara came into the room.

"Hey you two what are you-"  
She saw the bruise.

"Anna, where did you get that"

"I… GOD mom I can't tell you. You're going to hate me"

With that, Anna sat on the bed and started to sob softly.

"Anna," Sara got down to her daughter's level, "Honey look at me. What's wrong?"

"I can't give my kidney to Kate. I- there's something wrong with me"

Anna told her mother how she got the bruise.

"Oh sweetheart," Sara held her youngest child to her, "How could you possibly think I would hate you?"

"Because I can't donate my kidney to Kate," Anna sobbed, "and because I might be sick"

"Anna Michelle that is NOT YOUR FAULT," Sara scolded, "and if you are sick… which you probably aren't but if you are we will do whatever we have to in order to fix this"

"How," Anna asked

Brian and Sara exchanged a glance.

"By any means necessary," Sara answered as if challenging Brian to disagree. He wouldn't have anyway.

"Exactly," Brian contended, "It doesn't matter what we have to do. We will do it"

"Even if we have to have another kid," Sara half joked.

"Anna why don't you go watch a video," Brian suggested, "I need to talk to your mom"

Anna nodded and left the room.

"Sara," Brian asked, "What are you thinking right now? We can't put another child through this?"

Sara rolled her eyes.

"For GOD sake Brian our world is tumbling down again. This disease that is slowly killing Kate has now found a home in Anna too. You know this may come as a shock to you but I love BOTH of the girls and I love Jess"

Normally backtalk is not something that Brian accepts. This is understandable behavior however in this situation.

"It doesn't come as a shock to me," he said, "I know you love all of our kids"

"And I will do anything I have to in order to keep them both alive and well and happy. They do have that right Brian. I know you know about that... you've said it often enough"

Brian tried to stay calm but he understood how she was feeling. His world was coming down for a second time too.

"Yes I do know about those things honey," Brian said, "and I was just doing what was necessary"

"I'm not saying you were wrong," Sara said, "You were absolutely right to do what is necessary and **that **is what I'm doing now"

"Let's not jump the gun," Brian said, "Anna could just have a simple flu. Kate could go into spontaneous remission. Anything is possible"

"The simple flu? The flu doesn't cause bruises Brian"

"All I'm saying is let's not jump to conclusions," he replied

"I'm not jumping to anything," Sara said

"Sara do you remember when Kate was first sick?"

"Is this a joke? Where's the punch line," Sara asked bitterly, "Oh wait… that would be **my life**"

"Sara honey don't you think you're over-reacting a little. We don't know what's going on yet"

"Maybe not officially but I can feel it in my bones. Anna's sick"

"Look Sara I promise if that's true we will do whatever is necessary to make her and Kate better but right now all we know is she has a bruise"


	3. Flashback No Mister Hand

Jess was 2 and Kate was 4 when Kate got APL. As Jess got older Brian had a very hard time being patient with him when he was naughty. He didn't understand that he was only a child himself. One day when Jess was six and Anna was two and Kate was eight, Jess did something that really annoyed Brian. Sara and Brian had a talk later that night.

"I think," Brian said, "that maybe it's time for Jess to meet Mr. Hand"  
Sara stared at him in horror.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT," she told him.

"Sara he acts so immature"

"**HE'S A CHILD," **she yelled, "You can't punish him for being a child"

"He doesn't have the luxury of being a child anymore," Brian said, "We have a two-year old and a daughter who is d y i n g and we need him to be an adult"  
Brian knew he was being irrational but he couldn't help it. He was stressed out. If Jess would stop being so selfish for a change and think about Anna and Kate that would eliminate part of the problem. Why couldn't his son understand what they were going through? Jess was six already. He was a big brother. He was old enough to understand and be mature. He should be anyway.

"Look honey," Brian said, "Lets just **try **it my way"

"Try it your way? TRY IT YOUR WAY. Your way would lead to an insecure six year old who thinks his parents don't love him and his sisters are more important to his parents then he is"

"**WELL THEY ARE," **Brian shouted, "and not because we don't love him as much as we love them but Anna's only 2. She can't take care of herself and Kate is sick. She is at death's door"

"And he is six and watching his eight year old sister suffering. He's watching both parents pay more attention to them then to him"

"For GOD sake Sara we have to! Kate is sick and Anna is two"

"And Jess is caught in the middle. I mean it Brian. NO MISTER HAND!"

Unable to control his frustration and unable to understand Sara's point of view Brian had an adult version of a temper tantrum.

"**WELL WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST WE DO SARA? HUH—WHAT'S YOUR BRILLENT IDEA! WE HAVE TRIED REASONING WITH HIM! WE HAVE TRIED IGNORING HIM. WE HAVE TRIED TIME OUTS! WE HAVE TRIED TAKING AWAY PRIVELLEGES. DO YOU HAVE ANY BETTER IDEAS!"**

"Something that's not punitive," Sara replied calmly

"We don't have time for that. We don't have time to coddle him. He's not a baby anymore. We're doing it my way"

"Brian," Sara said calmly, "If you attempt to do that I will be out the door so quickly you won't know what hit you. You will never see the kids again or me"

Brian growled and walked out. He went to take a little walk which he did to calm down and he ran into Jordan, a friend of his.

"Shit hit the fan," Jordon asked

"Sara is being completely unreasonable," he explained even though he knew he was the one being unreasonable. He told Jordan all about it.

"Huh… I wonder how you might feel if you were in Jess's shoes"

"Jess is old enough to be mature," Brian argued, "we don't have time to baby him. Kate needs to be taken care of. Anna is two. What am I supposed to do"

"Spend time with Jess… talk to him… ask him how he's feeling about this-"

"He's not our priority. He's not the one that has cancer! Or the one that is two"

"No… he's in the middle"

Brian knew Jordan was right. Later that day he came home and apologized to Sara.

"Okay," he said, "We'll **try **it your way"


	4. Just When One Chapter Ends Another Began

This chapter is dedicated to Browneyes11

* * *

Anna woke up early the next morning. She went to brush her teeth and her gums started to bleed.

"DAMIT," she yelled waking her mother.

"Anna?"

"Oh sorry mom. Did I wake you?"

"Honey you're more important," Sara said, "What happened"

"I was brushing my teeth and my gums started bleeding. Mom I am so sorry"

"Why are you sorry," Sara asked, "You didn't get sick on purpose."

"I think," Sara told Anna, "We need to go to the Doctor today"

"But if I'm sick Kate's gonna die!"

"No she won't," Sara said, "Kate's getting a lot better"  
Sara felt like her heart was being ripped from her chest. This disease that already struck her one daughter, this rare unheard of leukemia that had been slowly killing Kate had now found a home in her other daughter as well. This had to be some kind of joke. GOD had to have some sort of sick sense of humor. She knew that it was a desperate situation. The irony was Kate was just starting to get better. They had found out the news about Kate's progress the day they found out Anna was sick. Now that Kate was better Anna had to face the illness that her big sister had suffered. It was so unbelievably unfair. Granted it wasn't obvious that Anna was sick. Maybe it was just a minor infection.  
Sara Fitzgerald was no idiot. She knew that was just wishful thinking.


	5. On A Loop

Sara made an appointment with Kate's doctor to get Anna checked out. She was frightened and at the same time she knew what was coming. The doctor ran some tests on the little girl and then pulled Sarah aside.

"What is it," Sara asked

"I don't know how to tell you this Mrs. Fitzgerald but Anna has two strands of leukemia. She has APL like Kate did but she also has ALL.

"WHAT! Is there anything that can be done"

"She would need a transplant. It would have to be an exact match. With treatment it can be prolong for maybe 10 months"

Sarah set her jaw in a determined stance.

Brian was waiting for her out in the waiting room. He had taken off early from work to see what was going on.

"Brian," she told him, "We're going to have another baby"  
He blinked.

"Um... you're pregnant?"

"No. But I'm going to be"

"Okay wait... lets start over again. Explain"

"Explanation... Anna has two strands of leukemia and I am NOT I repeat NOT going to let her die. This is the only way"

Brian was numb as he listened to the doctor a few minutes later explain the situation. This was not happening. Not again. And another child? With Anna's medical bills and Kate's healthy checkups how could they afford... this is... but Anna's life was at steak here. If having another baby was what they needed to do then having another baby was what they would do.


	6. 4 times the trouble four times the fun

Treatment for Anna started immediately. There was no time to waste and she was a little frightened. She saw how Kate was affected by her treatments. She spattered. She sputtered. She chocked. She groaned. She moaned. She shook. She cried. She felt like she was dying. She lost her hair. She knew exactly what she would be going through. It was not going to be fun. After the new baby was born she would have to go through a week of serious treatment to kill her immune system so the new cord blood could recognize it as bone marrow... or something...

The next day Brian and Sara went to the fertility clinic. The doctor who engineered Anna's birth was glad to help them.

"Are you looking for a girl or a boy," she asked them.

"I'm looking for the best match for Anna," Sara said, "That's **all **I'm looking for. I don't care if it's a boy or a girl."

The doctor nodded and running some tests eliminated the eggs and the sperm that would not lead to an exact match. Then using a lot of scientific methods they implanted four fertilized eggs within Sara.

"Four," Brian asked.

"Mr. Fitzgerald it's unlikely that any but one egg will survive the pregnancy. However this is your daughter's best chance. I know how stressful this must be but the worst case scenario in this case is you have 4 beautiful new children."

Brian looked a little disconcerted but soon pulled it together.

"We will do whatever we need to do for Anna," he said firmly.

He didn't think of the implanted eggs in Sara's body as babies yet just as he didn't think of Anna as a baby until she was born. Before Anna's birth their primary concern was Kate. Now their primary concern is Anna. Brian made a promise to himself that he wouldn't be an adult sized child like he was when Kate was sick. His family needed him. His wife needed him. His girls needed him. His son needed him. His unborn babies needed him. He wasn't going to have unreasonable expectations of Jessie this time. He wasn't going to lose his cool.

The doctor gave Sara some prenatal vitamins to take to ensure a healthy pregnancy. She said a quick prayer for all 4 of her babies to survive. That would give Anna her best chance. She knew it would be a lot of work but she would have no problem with it. She just wanted her daughter to recover. She knew she would love the new baby... or babies.

"Thank you Doctor," Brian said shaking her hand.

He swung an arm around Sara's shoulder.

"Well," he said, "We're doing the right thing... we are right?"

"Of course we're doing the right thing," Sara said, "Letting Anna die is not an option."

"I have to admit," he said, "I'm scared."

She sighed.

"So am I," she told him, "But we've come through this before"

"Yes," he said, "We have and we'll do it again."

"Exactly and if more problems occur we'll deal with them too," she said

"Well lets hope more problems DON'T occur," he suggested.

Sara laughed

"Good idea," she told him.


	7. 4? Oh no Try 6

Several months followed before the nurse called Sara and Brian in to give them the... I guess you could call it 'good' news. All four embryos took. Brian sat their in shock. They were having 4 more babies.

"We're going to need a bigger house," he said.

"We have bills right now," Sara pointed out, "We need to pay for Anna's treatment"

"Yeah well these babies are going to need some place to live," Brian reminded her, "and a 3 bedroom house is not an option. We have 7 children."

"Well I know but we have to figure out how to do this within our budget," Sara said.

Brian paused.

"What about selective termination," he suggested.

"WHAT! BRIAN ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND! I am not killing any of my children"

"We only need one of this procedure," Brian said

"We are **not **killing the babies," Sara said, "I'm not even going to entertain that option. FORGET IT!"

"Fine," Brian said, "I just don't see what other choice we have. Maybe we could give 3 of them up for adoption"

"Brian stop," Sara said, "This is not our science experiment. They are our children."

"I'm scared," Brian said

"So am I," Sara replied, "But I'm not killing our babies."

"We'll figure something out,' Brian replied

"I know," Sara said hugging her husband.

He still thought that he wasn't being unreasonable but he knew better then to argue especially with a pregnat woman.

"Brian get me a peanut butter and egg salad sandwich," Sara told him.

"Why?"

"Because I want it," she replied, "and I'm pregnant"

"Do you think we're having girls or boys," Brian asked Sara

"Yes," Sara said, "In fact I'm sure of it"

"Sure of what," Brian asked

"That we're having girls or boys or a combination thereof," Sara replied smirking.

Brian groaned. Sara was going to take full advantage of her pregnancy. Well it was no matter. They would be fine with seven kids. Then they got news from the doctor. Two of the eggs had split. So instead of carrying four babies they were carrying six. It was five girls and one boy. When they saw them on the 3D sonogram they fell in love.


	8. Who Said those are the only two options

"So here is your first baby. It's a girl," the doctor said pointing at the ultrasound

Sara couldn't stop grinning.

"Baby 2 is also a girl. Baby 3 4 and 5 are boys. Baby 6 is a girl and baby 7 is a girl," the doctor said.

"Cool," Sarah smiled, "We have **four **girls and **three **boys."

"Yes," Brain said, "That's what the doctor said.  
He groaned. He still didn't know how they were going to raise nine children.

"Honey," Brian said as they got into the car, "Are you **sure **you don't want to give a couple of them up for adoption?"

"Brain this is our children."

"But we can't afford them. Anna is sick. She's going to need to have us able the care for her."

"We will be able to do it. I'm not saying that we won't need help. We'll need to get help to do this but I can't be okay with giving our children up."

I'll think about it," Brain promised.

"THERE IS NOT ANYTHING TO THINK ABOUT. THIS IS NOT A DISCUSSION. IT IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT. I'M NOT GIVING THOSE CHILDREN UP AND I'M NOT GVING UP ANY OF THE CHILDREN WE HAVE NOW."

"We'll talk about it later," Brain said.

"There is nothing to talk about Brain," Sara said, "I'm the one carrying the babies. This is one case where **I **have the final say."

"But-"

"I think we need to figure out how to handle our problems without being negative or hurtful also. I'm taking anything hurtful off the table."  
Brain sighed. He hated not being in control.

"But it works," he objected.

"NO it doesn't," she told him, "We need to stop acting like that."

"We can't go back to the way to the way things were before. We fought all the time."

"We said that was the only options," Sarah pointed out.


End file.
